Venus Williams(United States) Biography

Birthdate:

17-June-80

Birthplace:

Detroit, Michigan

Height:

6 ft 1 in

Plays:

Right-handed

Turned Pro:

October 31, 1994

Venus Williams the older of the iconic Williams sisters has her future all mapped out.

A graduate of the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale in Florida in Fashion Design with Cum Laude Honours and a 3.5 degree she wants to spend time running her company V Starr Interiors and her clothing line Eleven Venus which she launched at her Graduation Ceremony.

She is also looking forward to marrying her fiancÚ and long-term boyfriend professional golfer Hank Kuehne. He has been a familiar sight at Wimbledon holding her hand in rain breaks since they started dating in 2007.

She is Chief Executive of V Starr Interiors which is based in Jupitper, Florida. Her company designed the set of the Tavis Smiley Show on PBS, the Olympic Village Apartments which were part of the American package in the bid for New York to host the 2012 Olympic Games. The company also designed residences and businesses in the Palm Beach area.

In 2001 Venus was named as one of the 30 most powerful women in America by the Ladies Home Journal magazine. She wants to be a business woman and is looking forward to spending more time off court and devoting more time to her company. She admits she does not want to travel the world forever.

It took her 8 years to get her degree because of her tennis commitments. "I started school at the age of 19 and finished when I was 27," she said. "It was a little slower after the Majors. I learnt to make patterns, thread industrial machines, learn about fabrics and textiles. In fact you learnt the whole industry."

If Venus could collaborate with any fashion house is would be Louis Vuitton and she said Dolce and Gabbana was one of her style inspirations.

To make her mark as a designer she wore a boudoir-inspired tennis outfit at the French Open which raised a few eyebrows. It was inspired by the film "Moulin Rouge" and was a black corseted black lace dress with red trim. She paired it with nude micro shorts which looked as if she was playing with no panties on.

Like the rest of her family Venus was shocked when her elder sister Tunde was murdered on 14th September 14th 2003. She was shot in a car when she was out with her drug-dealing boyfriend in Compton, a crime-ridden suburb of Los Angeles near the cracked tennis courts where the Williams sisters learnt to play tennis.

She said "We were extremely shocked, saddened and devastated by the shooting of our beloved Yetunde. She was our nucleus and our rock. She was a personal assistant, confidante and adviser to her sisters and her death leaves a void that can never be filled. Our grief is overwhelming, this is the saddest day of our lives."